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Spotlight on... awareness weeks

Awareness weeks guide

Spotlight on... awareness days, weeks and months

Featuring the latest research on key areas of health and wellbeing, our Spotlight on... series focuses on the awareness weeks, days and months that occur throughout the year.

Stay up-to-date on important health topics and explore the variety of resources available to support your work.

International Infection Prevention Week

International Infection Prevention Week

13-19 October 2024

Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) Week is held during the third week of October each year to highlight the importance of preventing infections. The theme for IPC Week 2024 is ‘Move the needle on IPC by breaking the chain of infection!’. Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Healthcare

 

UpToDate

Cochrane Library

Guidelines

Online resources

Reports

Articles

Healthcare workers

Research

E-books

E-journals

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Articles

Healthcare workers

Theoretical models applied to understand infection prevention and control practices of healthcare workers during the COVID-19 pandemic: A systematic review
This review offers insights into the critical role of behavioural change theories, models, or frameworks in understanding the factors influencing healthcare workers’ compliance with IPC practices during COVID-19. It also highlights the potential of these theories in guiding the development of evidence-based interventions to improve healthcare workers’ compliance with IPC practices. Journal of infection prevention 16 May 2024

A seesaw of equilibrium, midwives’ experiences of infection prevention and control guideline adherence: A qualitative descriptive study
While midwives have a strong sense of protection of professional integrity, work conditions such as environment, organisational structures, and management systems affect midwives’ adherence to infection prevention and control guidelines. Effective education, training, and communication are required to promote infection prevention and control guideline adherence. Journal of infection prevention 6 April 2024

Radiographers and other radiology workers’ education and training in infection prevention and control: A scoping review
The review highlights the limited assessment of infection prevention and control (IPC) knowledge and practice among radiology healthcare workers (HCWs), with most studies recommending further education and training programs. Radiology 28 September 2024

Infection prevention and control risk factors for SARS-CoV-2 infection in health workers: a global, multicentre case-control study
Appropriate implementation of infection prevention and control measures and personal protective equipment (PPE) use remain a priority to protect health workers from SARS-CoV-2 infection. Journal of hospital infection 20 September 2024

Determinants of compliance with infection prevention measures by physicians: a scoping review
The aim of this review was to identify what determinants influence physicians' infection prevention behaviour, what strategies to improve compliance have been explored, and whether theories, models, and frameworks from implementation science have been used in these studies.  Journal of hospital infection 28 August 2024

Risk assessment and the use of personal protective equipment in an emergency department: Differing perspectives of emergency and infection control clinicians. A video-vignette survey
Highlights

  • Personal protective equipment (PPE) in emergency departments (EDs) can be contentious
  • Infection control and ED clinicians agree on the necessity of most PPE items.
  • ED clinicians find PPE guidance less practicable than infection control clinicians.
  • Infection prevention guidelines for EDs must be designed for ED contexts

American journal of infection control 2 October 2024

Closing the gap on infection prevention staffing recommendations: Results from the beta version of the APIC staffing calculator
Published literature suggests “one-size-fits-all" infection prevention and control (IPC) staffing recommendations do not sufficiently account for program complexity needs. This project's objective was to create and validate a calculator utilizing risk and complexity factors to generate individualized IPC staffing ratios. This novel approach allows facilities to staff their IPC program based on individual factors. Future versions of the calculator will be optimized based on the findings. Future research will clarify the impact of staffing on patient outcomes and staff retention. American journal of infection control 10 October 2024

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Research

Can probiotics trigger a paradigm shift for cleaning healthcare environments? A narrative review
To date, probiotic cleaning is a breakthrough technology and a biological alternative for chemical disinfectant when treating hospital environment. It may also have a positive effect on MDRO transmission. However, the different compositions of probiotic products will require standardization, and more robust data should be generated to support these promising results on different compositions. This may trigger a paradigm shift in cleaning of healthcare institutions from chemical to biological control of the hospital environment. Antimicrobial resistance & infection control 8 October 2024

Occlusive wound dressings: A greenhouse for bacteria?
Choosing a less permeable wound dressing may lead to an increased bacterial load on the skin during the first 48 h after surgery. Journal of infection prevention 15 June 2024

Hair removal with a clipper and microbial colonisation prior to knee arthroplasty: a randomised controlled trial
Hair removal with a clipper within 24 hours prior to surgery causes a significant non-selective reduction in skin colonisation. Infection prevention in practice  11 June 2024

Digital epidemiology: harnessing big data for early detection and monitoring of viral outbreaks
The present review gives an overview of digital epidemiology, emphasising its importance in the timely detection of infectious disease outbreaks. Infection prevention in practice 11 June 2024

Impact of nebulization versus metered-dose inhaler utilization on viral particle dispersion in patients with COVID-19
In this first prospective trial evaluating viral load distribution following use of nebulizer versus MDI in hospitalized patients with COVID-19, low environmental contamination was found regardless of administration method. Findings support the use of either device when needed to treat patients with COVID-19. Journal of infection prevention 22 July 2024

Testing and capturing difficult-to-access populations for syphilis control in Australia
This article explores the epidemiology, screening and detection methods for syphilis, particularly focusing on difficult-to-access populations. Current screening strategies, including serology and molecular assays and recent changes in antenatal screening guidelines to prevent congenital syphilis are discussed. Microbiology Australia 27 August 2024

Australia’s COVID-19 vaccine journey: progress and future perspectives
COVID-19 vaccines have played a pivotal role in reducing SARS-CoV-2 disease severity and mortality. However, evolutionary pressure has resulted in viral variants with increased fitness, greater capacity for immune evasion and higher infectivity. This evolution is exemplified by the emergence of the Omicron subvariants, all of which demonstrate significant escape from vaccine- or infection-induced immunity. Broadly protective vaccines are urgently needed to fight current, emerging and future SARS-CoV-2 variants. Australia is actively contributing to these efforts through the development of innovative vaccination approaches and vaccine delivery platforms. Microbiology Australia 15 March 2024

Current and future burden of Ross River virus infection attributable to increasing temperature in Australia: a population-based study
These findings provide scientific evidence for informing policy decisions and guiding resource allocation for mitigating the future RRV burden. The current findings underscore the need to develop location-specific adaptation strategies for climate-sensitive disease control and prevention. The Lancet regional health – Western Pacific 28 June 2024

The impact of increasing temperatures due to climate change on infectious diseases
The review highlighted that the relationship between temperature and waterborne and foodborne diseases is complex. Higher temperatures and non-optimal temperatures could increase the number of cases. Future research warrants a more comprehensive approach that considers other environmental, social, demographic, economic, cultural, and behavioural factors, and the interactions between these factors and rising temperatures, contributing to the transmission of these diseases. The impacts of large scale policies and interventions on mitigating increasing temperatures and infectious disease risk, such as those focused on biodiversity restoration and increasing greenspace in urban settings warrant further investigation. BMJ 4 October 2024

Unveiling the dynamics of intraoperative contamination in total hip arthroplasty: the discrepancy between particulate and microbial contamination in surgical site infection risk
This study identified a significant portion of airborne particles during the core surgical procedures as non-viable, suggesting that monitoring solely for particle counts might not suffice to estimate SSI risk. These findings strongly support the use of space suits for surgeons to minimize intraoperative microbial contamination within laminar airflow (LAF)-ventilated operating rooms. Therefore, minimizing unnecessary traffic and movement of unsterile personnel is crucial. Additionally, since the data suggest increased contamination during patient repositioning, effectively controlling contamination during the first postural change plays a key role in maintaining low microbial contamination levels throughout the surgery. The use of sterile gowns during this initial maneuver might further reduce Surgical site infections (SSIs). Further research is warranted to investigate the impact of sterile attire on SSIs. Arthroplasty 1 October 2024

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E-books

This is just a sample of the e-books the library subscribes to – you will need your library login

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E-Journals

A sample of the journals the library subscribes to – you will need your library login

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